Conflicted
by Calleigh's little girl
Summary: When Elle almost dies coz the team arrested the wrong guy Hotch has to face some bitter truths...I know bad summary...Still Please R&R!ElleHotch


**Discs.: I don't own Criminal Minds or its characters!**

**A/N: Here is a new fanfic of mine - Hope you're going to like it. It wasn't corrected by any beta...**

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Conflicted

_1. A new case and a tempting offer_

Hotch and his team had been called in to solve a complicated case of the MPD.

A young stewardess had come home from work and found only blood and signs of a struggle instead of her co-inhabitant.

Considering the immense amount of blood found at the scene, it was very unlikely that she was still alive, but they hadn't found the body yet. So they had to wait for new leads.

_Hotch's office : _

Hotch had just returned to his office with a cup of coffee, when Elle knocked against his door.

"Hey Hotch, you got a moment?"

He turned toward her, a smile on the face :

"Sure, what's the matter?"

Elle leaned against the door-frame.

"I just got a call from my former boss from Seattle. He, uh, he is going to retire in a month and now they search for someone to lead the unit..."

"So you want to leave us?"

He looked her straight into the eyes.

"I don't know, I mean it's a great offer...Any advice?"

Before Hotch was able to answer, Morgan approached them.

"They just found Susan O'Connel's body..."

"Okay."

Morgan left and Hotch added,

"We talk later, okay?"

Elle nodded and they went to get to the others.

_At an art gallery :_

When they arrived the agents focused all their attention onto the job. They took in the sight of the body, which was arranged in an angel-like position. She was naked and except of the three deep wounds on her chest she was looking as if she was only sleeping.

_Back at the office :_

While waiting for the autopsy report the team talked about the case. Half an hour later they had the results of the autopsy. After they had looked it through they started talking about it.

"The MO is similar to a series of murders in Sacramento..." Morgan stated.

"Yeah, but the killer was caught back then - he had some serious psychological issues. He's currently in a psychiatric institution here in DC." Hotch added.

"He killed nine women in such a brutal way before they were able to catch him. - And he keeps denying that it was him even now..." Reid told them.

"Okay, Reid and JJ please look through the case-files from seven years ago. Gideon and Morgan can you interview the neighbors once more? Elle, you come with me."

"Got it." The team parted.

Elle followed Hotch. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to question Michael Miller - who killed these nine women seven years ago."

_At the psychiatric clinic :_

Hotch and Elle approached a nurse.

"Excuse me. We need to talk with one of your patients - Michael Miller, if that's possible."

"Okay. Please follow me."

The nurse led them to the office of the treating doctor.

"Dr. Clayton, there are two agents from the FBI, who need to talk with Michael Miller."

"Thank you Kathryn." The woman got up from her chair and went to Hotch and Elle.

"I'm Agent Hotchner, this is Agent Greenaway, FBI, Behavioral Analysis Unit. We need to talk with Michael Miller."

"Okay." The Dr led them to a room.

When they reached their destination they stopped and the doctor stated, looking at Elle :

"You are exactly his type...She could get him to talk..."

Hotch asked : "Is he dangerous?"

"No. He's chained to a chair, if she doesn't overstep the red line he isn't able to reach her. And we can watch her over the monitor..."

Hotch looked questioning at Elle.

"I'm going to talk with him."

When seeing Hotch's doubtful expression she added,

"You heard what she said - it's safe...

She smiled then she went in and Hotch and Dr Clayton went to the adjoining room.

Elle walked slowly up to the red line.

"Mr Miller?"

He kept working on his painting.

"Are you afraid of me?"

"No." Elle stated firmly.

For a moment Elle hesitated then she went closer to him until she stood right next to him.

_Meanwhile :_

Hotch watched nervously how Elle walked up to the red line. When she overstepped the line and went to Miller he almost turned to get to her but the doctor reassured him :

"He is not going to do anything to her."

_Back at Miller's room :_

Elle looked at the painting which showed a woman with an open ribcage. He turned his face toward her and saw the disgust in her eyes.

"What's the matter? Well, let me guess, you can't understand my style of painting..."

"You are calling this art?"

"I'm not expecting you to understand - but lets get to the main-point...You finally realized that I'm innocent?"

He focused his attention back onto his painting, "I might be stuck in this room - but I watch TV. He started again - that's why you are here..."

"He?"

"Alex...We met at a therapy-center. We both went to the same group therapy for people who feel like they're caught in the wrong body...After some time we became friends, we both wanted a surgery - but he was afraid of it and his operation was denied. He has two different eyes - one is green the other one is brown. However, before I had my surgery I was arrested for killing these nine women - what was a mistake..."

_Meanwhile :_

"Why is he here instead of in a prison?"

"You heard him talking about Alex?" Hotch nodded and the doctor went on,

"He is not existing. The cops who had originally worked on the case have searched for "Alex" for weeks - but found nothing. So everyone came to the conclussion that he only exists in Miller's imagination.

"What is his stressor?"

"He feels like a woman - but sometimes his male side comes through when he feels attracted to a woman - and it makes him unbelievable angry."

"And he kills the woman, right?"

The doctor nodded.

"You said that Alex is actually Miller himself, but how do you explain the two different eyes?"

"Sometimes people with a divided personality look differently depending on which part of their personality is ruling. It's a really rare phenomenon - but in a few cases a divided personality goes along with a physical change..."

_In Miller's room :_

"Why should I believe you? If it was really Alex, why are you sitting here instead of him, huh?"

"Well, the cops in Sacramento are total idiots - that's why! These guys only wanted to close the case as fast as possible, so they arrested me..." He paused for a moment then he stated,

"I guess that would be all for now. I have a session with my therapist in exactly ten minutes..."

Elle turned and left the room to meet up with Hotch.

_Half an hour later :_

The team had come together for a briefing, but given the fact that they had no real, new leads they decided to order something from an Italian restaurant while waiting for news.

Elle went to the break room to get a cup of coffee. As she turned to go back to the conference room Hotch approached her.

After he got himself some coffee he said :

"You asked me for advice, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, I can't tell you what to do...I mean, you are a great agent and an even better profiler - it would be a giant loss for the BAU if you go. But it is also a big chance for you - and if you don't take it you might regret it later...So, I can only advise you to listen to your heart."

They locked eyes and shared a smile.

"Hey you two, the PD just arrested a suspect in our case. They are on their way to bring him in so we can question him." Morgan told them.

"Good to hear that..." Hotch replied.

_Interrogation-room, twenty minutes later :_

"Mr O'Neal, I guess you know why you are here?"

Hotch said leaning against the wall, arms crossed in front of his chest, after a moment he went on,

"You were arrested for killing Susan O'Connel with three stabs into the chest..."

"It wasn't me, okay? I do not even know who this woman you are talking about is!"

"Too bad for you, but we have a witness who saw you leaving the apartment building where Ms O'Connel lived with a big, wrapped up rug. There is no way out of this for you!"

Morgan smirked at the suspect,

"We have your bloody clothes...Next time you commit homicide burn them, because the funny thing about blood is that once dried you can't get rid of the stains...No matter how good the cleaners are."

_Flashback :_

After Morgan had told him that a suspect had been arrested, Hotch had asked Garcia to do a full background research on Timothy O'Neal.

She came up with a lot of boring stuff - but when she checked his bank-accounts she found something interesting. O'Neal had paid a bill for the cleaning of a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

So Hotch and Elle had went to to the dry cleaners and picked up the clothes.

Not ten minutes later they knew that he was the right guy - given the bloody stains on his clothes.

_End flashback_

Fifteen minutes later Hotch decided to end the interrogation. O'Neal was the killer and they had enough evidence against him - even without a confession...

The case was closed and everybody hurried to get the annoying but necessary paperwork done.

After he had worked on his giant pile of paperwork for hours Hotch got up from his chair and went to get himself some coffee.

As he entered the bullpen he saw Elle sitting at her desk reading a file. Everyone else had already left so he approached her and stated :

"Hey Elle, what are you still doing here? I mean the case is closed, we caught the guy..."

Elle looked up and replied :

"Paperwork, and I wanted to look through the files once more to check that we haven't missed anything. I just can't shake the feeling that we might have the wrong guy. I mean, what's with the man Miller had mentioned?"

"Listen Elle, Alex is just an illusion of Miller. They tried to find "Alex" for weeks - but found not a single hint for his existence. Come on, go home..."

Hotch turned to get finally some coffee.

"Hotch?"

"Yeah?" He turned back toward Elle,

"What's the matter?"

Elle got up and grabbed an item from her desk, then she walked up to Hotch.

"Well, I, uh, was never good with words, so..."

She trailed off and handed him a white envelope.

"So you made a decision?"

"Yeah..."

Elle smiled, then she went back to her desk and packed up her stuff to leave.

"Goodnight, and go home yourself, okay?"

She smirked at him.

"Sure, I just have to finish some paperwork..."

Hotch smiled and went on, "Goodnight Elle."

Hotch turned and went to get his cup refilled with coffee.

Elle checked once more her desk to make sure she won't forget anything and saw a picture of the gallery, where some of Miller's paintings were currently shown. She opened the file to put the picture back, then she stopped as she noticed a guy in the picture - with a green and a brown eye, she recognized him as the guy who had cleaned O'Neal's clothes.

Without much thinking she grabbed her purse and left in a hurry - with the photograph.

_Meanwhile :_

Hotch had decided to give himself a short break, so he left the bullpen, coffee in hands and went up on the roof.

When he had reached the railing he put the cup down on it and pulled the white envelope out from one of his jacket pockets.

He took a deep breath, opened the envelope, took the sheet of paper out and started reading.

_Dear Hotch,_

_first of all I have to admit that it was really not easy for me to decide what I should do..._

_You said I should listen to what my heart is telling me - and so I did..._

_At Miller's room :_

Elle closed quietly the door and walked up to Miller.

"Oh, you are back..." He looked at her,

"I heard you closed the case - one more life of an innocent guy destroyed...So what do you want - mocking me? Telling me that I was guilty and that Alex is just an illusion?"

"No. I believe you are innocent. I'm here because I need to ask you something." She pulled out the photograph.

"Is this Alex?" She showed him the picture.

" Yeah...So he is now here in DC..."

"Thanks. Look, I have to go - but I promise I will do everything to get you out of here.

"Whatever..."

Elle waited a short moment then she left.

_Tbc_

**A/N: Hope you liked it so far. Please take the time to REVIEW!**


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